USPS Stamps

United States Postal Service

The United States Postal Service (USPS) is the best postal service in the world. There are many reasons for this and not all are related to the size or the volume of mail delivered every day. The USPS provides an excellent online service which allows you to buy your stamps directly and have them delivered to your door.

Not only that, but you can personalize your stamps with your own photographic images. Gone is the need to stand in a queue in the post office to buy your postage stamps. The USPS online facility allows you to buy your stamps directly as well as providing most of the functions that you find in the post office.

USPS stamps value

Philatelists and amateur stamp collectors are always on the lookout for US postage stamps for their collections. Misprints are not common but when they do occur, the stamps gain in value immediately and are likely to be bought up by collectors before they can be withdrawn completely. The upside-down ‘flying Jenny’ is one of the rarer stamps from USPS and its value is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars price range.

You will, of course need a stamp album to hold your stamp collection and Amazon have albums ranging in price from $5 to $20. You can check the prices at this link. Stamp Collection Albums

Collector's Stamp Album

USPS stamps forever

First issued in 2007

USPS first issued the forever stamp on April 12th, 2007. It was priced then at 41 cents but it will suffice forever as a first-class stamp. A first class stamp is suitable for letters up to 1 ounce in weight. The forever stamp is just that, it can be used at anytime. The advantage of buying these stamps in bulk is that they can always be used as first class stamps even if the cost of the current stamp is more than you paid for your forever stamp.

The design and images of the forever stamp may change over the years but the value of the stamp remains constant in the sense that it matches current day stamp prices (regardless of what you paid for it originally). The USPS postage stamp commemorating jazz through the ages is one of the new ‘forever’ issues in 2011.

USPS definitive stamps

Definitive stamps are what we would call regular everyday stamps and these are printed in huge quantities. They are a small purposeful stamp roughly one inch square in size but quite often smaller than that. More that one round of printing occurs with these stamps and professional stamp collections can often contain a full sheet of this type of stamp.

Regular collectors will have little difficulty collecting a number of these stamps. Several American flag stamps now exist, so look out for subtle changes, such as different pleats or folds, when next you see the Old Glory flag on an envelope.

USPS commemorative stamps

These are of much more interest to collectors are are bigger, brighter and more colorful than definitive stamps. Commemorative stamps are magical but are more difficult to collect because they are not printed in the same quantity as regular stamps and generally only have one print run. Commemorative stamps are a celebration of American culture and everything that is good about America.

Walt Disney postage stamps

They honor famous people, US presidents, historic events, and subjects of importance to all citizens as well as fun occasions such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter and other celebration times or events. The commemorative Disney stamps shown here were issued in honor of Walt Disney’s achievements and many similar stamps have been issued throughout the world. Commemorative stamps are such fun to collect and much sought after but they are only available for a brief period of time.

Marilyn Monroe Stamps

Legends of Hollywood Series

USPS Stamps Online

Not just Hollywood but Musical legends on stamps too

This is the one of the new USA stamps issued in 2013 celebrating the musical legends. What a great choice to make Johnny Cash the first one. As per the norm now, this stamp is issued a s a forever stamp.

If you would like to start a stamp collection then please visit the USPS stamps online website to get started. Here you will find everything from a stamp album to historic information on the Pony Express. This is the place where you can buy first-class stamps, first-day covers, holiday and Christmas stamps, personalized envelopes and even personalized stamps using a photograph you provide.

The site features fun for kids with art programs, games and book selections which can be bought immediately. When you log on to the website you can check USPS Zip codes, notify a change of address, get the current USPS Rates, use the USPS Tracking service and much, much more besides. This is the link to the USPS. U.S. Postal Service link.